Amazon removes bathmats and items imprinted with verses from the holy Quran following complaints

After receiving complaints of Internet merchants selling items that were offensive to Muslims, including doormats, bathmats and other goods imprinted with verses from the Koran, Amazon has pulled dozens of items from its online marketplace.

After receiving complaints of Internet merchants selling items that were offensive to Muslims, including doormats, bathmats and other goods imprinted with verses from the Koran, Amazon has pulled dozens of items from its online marketplace.

The items were first flagged to the online retailer by the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a Muslim advocacy group. CAIR said it received complaints about the items from members of the community, leading the group to alert Amazon. In a news release last week, the group said the products are offensive to Muslims because the scripture and other Islamic references “would be stepped-on or otherwise disrespected by customers.”

Amazon began removing the items soon after CAIR registered the complaints.

“All sellers must follow our selling guidelines, and those who do not will be subject to action including potential removal of their account,” Amazon said in a statement to The Washington Post on Tuesday. “The products in question are being removed from our store.”

CAIR is continuing to send offensive product listings to Amazon, according to spokesman Ibrahim Hooper, who said that Amazon has been swift and courteous in its response and that it continues to audit its listings for similar products.